Texas Trip

It was sort-of a spontaneous trip we threw haphazardly together as soon as we discovered we had earned enough points on our credit card for our travel rebate to cover the all hotel expenses and a van rental. The day after Christmas we packed up the family to drive about 1,200 miles to visit my brother in Texas - the second longest trip we've ever driven as a family.

 We drove with all five of our kids for a little over nine hours, spent the night in Albuquerque and then drove the additional nine something hours to Fort Worth. I think all our children do amazing when we travel especially given the fact they don't have movies or anything to watch, just stuff to listen to, books to read, and travel board games to play. They sleep most of the time and any fighting or complaining is rare on our trips. Joseph and I count ourselves very blessed!

Our foster daughter went through a little of a struggle though because she's never traveled before and we are still a fairly new family to her.  For all she knew, this trip could have meant we were moving far away and not coming back. It's also possible she thought that she'd never be able to see her grandma again. She had a few inconsolable moments but overall she did incredibly well traveling given her unique circumstances.

Even though our time in Texas was short, I was so glad to be with my brother, Kenneth's, family. He and his wife, Kaylee, have two little kids - Lily and Thayer. This was my first time ever meeting Thayer. He's one-and-a-half now - It was almost surreal looking at this boy, a spitting image of his dad at that age! Lily is the older child. She's six with an adorable little Texas accent. The kids loved it when she'd ask, "Ya'll comin' back to my house?"  I also loved that Lily has absolutely NO interest in dolls or princesses. Instead, she loves monster truck rally's, toy cars, and super heroes. My kind of girl!

We all had a really great time even if 2/3rds of the week-long trip was spent driving. It was wonderful to spend time with family! Our kids are growing fast and we won't be able to have opportunities like these much longer. I want to soak up as much as we can.

Christmas Eve the kids act out the nativity story with the
 pieces we bought in Bethlehem back in 2007.

Christmas Morning - the kids getting cozy by the fire.

Christmas morning our bonus child helped make our traditional breakfast.

The first hotel we stayed at was somewhat of a dive...
but the kids were just happy to have a break from driving nine-and-a-half hours.

We finally made it to Fort Worth after another nine-and-a-half hour drive.
Time to VEG!

Eating lunch at The Rodeo Goat. The picture painted on the wall made me laugh because
my brother, Kenneth, has a fetish with fainting goats.

Spending the afternoon at the Children's Museum with my sister-in-law, Kaylee
and my niece and nephew, Lily and Thayer.

This face! Identical to my brother at this age - I couldn't believe it! Thayer is such a cutie!

Joseph on a bed of nails. Oooh Aaaah!

Water Gardens in downtown Fort Worth. It was freeeeezing outside.
My sister-in-law stayed home for this venue because it was too cold for her.

"The Mountain" @ Water Gardens - Fort Worth 

Downtown Fortworth 

Back Row: Chandler, Kenneth, Kaylee, Thayer
Middle Row: Joseph, Me, Miriam, Micah
Front Row: Millie, Lily, Kaylee

Albuquerque hotel we stayed at on our way back home. We're all heading down to the pool.

More driving! But OH what a glorious sunset!!